In my German settled area, with few if any French descent people (myself
excluded), I have had no problem purchasing French-English dictionaries
from the HALLMARK store. I purchased two over the past several years.
They both are Larousse. This store has this type dictionaries for many
languages.

A few years ago I purchased a book NTC'S DICTIONARY of CANADIAN FRENCH.
Words are listed as in Quebec and in France with English. It is very
interesting.

> In a message dated 10/29/03 08:18:37 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> writes:
>
> > Hello - In the English schools we were taught Parisian French and when
> > combining the language around the house and neighbourhood we learned a
> > mixture of both. What would you say was the dialect that was used say
in
> > New Brunswick as I found it different from either Quebec or Paris types.
> > Cheers Joyce Crete
>
> When I was teaching French in High School in a certain city in New
England,
> the parents of some students would often ask "Do you teach Parisian
French, or
> Canadian French?" I would answer their one question with two of my own.
> "Have you ever heard the ordinary people of Paris speak French?" and "How
many
> generations ago did your ancestors leave Quebec?" Invariably, the parents
who
> asked that question were of Quebecois ancestry. The answer to my first
question
> was always "No." The answer to my second question varied from "My parents
> came here when I was a kid." to "My grandparents came here when my parents
were
> kids." So, my next question was "Do you ever listen to Radio Canada?"
The
> answer was usually "Yes". "To the hockey games, or to the good music
programs?"
> "Well, I listen to the hockey games, but the wife likes the good music
> programs." "Do the hockey announcers speak the same language as the good
music
> announcers?" "No, they don't. Well, yes, they do, but their accent is
different
> - rougher - than the good music announcers."
>
> "Mister Dubois , the difference between the hockey announcers and the good
> music announcers is less a matter of dialect than of refinement. And the
same
> is true in Paris. The ordinary people of Paris speak French like the
people
> in Brooklyn or South Boston speak English. It is genuine, but unrefined.
> Educated people, whether in Paris, in Montreal, in Brussels, in Algiers,
or in
> Abidjan, speak in accents that reflect their education, but retain some of
the
> local character of their places of origin. My purpose is to teach your
sons and
> daughters to speak refined, educated French, that can be understood by
French
> speaking people anywhere in the world. It may well be that their speech
will
> reflect their history - that they have been taught French up to now by
> teachers whose accent reflect their Irish-American heritage. But, now
that they're
> in high school, we can polish their accents as well as their vocabulary,
their
> syntax, and their ability to engage in real conversation."
>
> It is the second generation and third generation descendants of immigrants
> who refuse to allow their children to learn the languages of their
ancestors who
> deprive the next generation of an important part of their cultural
heritage.
> I was reading earlier today that it is difficult to find French
dictionaries
> and French-English dictionaries in some places because French is no longer
a
> part of the high school curriculum. I was looking to replace a 20 year
old
> French-English dictionary and an even older Larousse Illustré a few weeks
ago,
> but Waldenbooks and Borders had neither on their shelves. It is a shame.
>
> This response has been long, but I trust that it is not off-topic for this
> forum. One of my 8G Grandfathers was Bernard Deniger dit Sansoucy, from
> Bordeaux, in the Province of Guyenne. Some of his descendants are known
as
> "Denisha". On the other hand, another of my 8G Grandfathers was Jonathan
Haynes of
> Haverhill, Bay Colony, Province of New England. His son, captured and
brought to
> Quebec, was known thereafter as "Joseph Hains". In both cases, something
is
> lost in the translation. (And I know I'm not the only one who shares
ancestry
> with those two forebears.)
>
> Fr. Owen Taggart
>
> ______________________________